Isabel d'Eresby knows better than to want things. Fifteen years of striving has left her with nothing - no money, no home of her own, and no control over her life. Now she's a widow dependent on the charity of her husband's loathsome family, with no hope of climbing out of the hole she's dug for herself. The only thing she has is her son - and for his sake, she'll swallow any indignity to make sure that her in-laws don't make good on their threats to take him from her. She can't afford to take risks - until the day a beautiful woman walks into her life with an offer that could finally turn her luck around. Just so long as she doesn't fall in love with her . . . Constance Rykener has never given up on anything or anyone - not the husband she married for convenience's sake, not the business that's rapidly sinking under her feet, not the rebellious niece who's begging Constance to save her from an arranged marriage. She has plenty on her plate already - but when a chance meeting brings Isabel into her life, she can't resist the urge to try and help her. Of course, it doesn't hurt that she's beautiful and prickly in a way that makes Constance want to bring her out of her shell. But the more she learns about Isabel, the more it becomes clear that her scars go far deeper than Constance realized - and that Constance's attempts to save her run the risk of making everything worse for both of them. A business partnership prolongs their connection past a chance meeting, and makes it increasingly clear that something undeniable is growing between them. Before long, the thought of separating feels as impossible as being together once did. But with their families and society all arrayed against them, they will have to decide whether to take refuge in caution or to risk following their hearts - and losing everything.
In lieu of WIP Wednesday today, I present: my next book! As of today, the ebook is available for preorder (almost) everywhere books are sold (Amazon doesn't allow pre-orders unless it's exclusive, so it won't be up there until the publication date) and the print copy is in the process of going up for preorder as well.
My first book was a relatively quick and painless writing process. This one . . . was not. It took three-plus years and a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and revisions to get it to a place where I felt like I was finally telling the story I wanted to tell. Isabel is not a character who lets people in easily, and apparently that includes me. But the process of getting to know her was incredibly rewarding precisely because it was so slow: she's the kind of romance protagonist I've always wanted to write and to read, and I feel like I've finally achieved that with this book. (I kind of lived Constance's arc in the book in real time, now that I think about it.)
The book officially released on August 12th. It's currently in the (also long and slow) process of being added to Goodreads, and I'll update you all when that happens. In the meantime, if you or any of your friends are interested in the premise "lesbian single mom with hidden depths and a lot of trauma falls for her business partner, angst, hurt/comfort, and an eventual HEA ensues" please consider pre-ordering! I promise it'll be worth your while, or at least your five bucks.
Content notes: discussion of past abuse and marital rape.
